Genesis 26
Isaac and Abimelek
4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Genesis 26 (NIV)
A famine hits the land and Isaac goes to Abimelek, king of the Philistines. Just like his father Abraham, Isaac tells everyone that his wife Rebekah is his sister but soon gets caught lying and has to come clean.
God was with Isaac and blessed him so that he became very rich and increased in wealth. The Philistines, seeing all his wealth became envious of him and started filling up his wells with dirt and the Abimelek ended up sending him away.
Abimelek recognized God’s blessings on Isaac though and eventually he goes to Isaac and asks that a treaty be made to ensure peace among their people.
Lessons from Genesis 26
- Lord even in hard times: Famines arose in the days of Abraham and Isaac, even though they loved God and had great fellowship with Him. Because we live in a sin-stained world, hard times will always come. Being a Christian and walking closely with God doesn’t mean you will never have to face challenges. However, you do get the guarantee that God will always be with you to sustain you in the midst of hardship and guide you through so you can obtain victory. Hallelujah.
- Be still and know that God is Lord: When the famine hit, God came to Isaac and told him not to go to Egypt but to stay in the land where he was. God said “I will be with you and will bless you” (verse 3). At times when faced with challenges, there’s the temptation to just give up and try something else or go somewhere else but the wise thing to do will be to seek God’s counsel. Don’t be too quick to jump ship, be still and know that God is Lord, He has the ability to keep you safe even when things get tough.
- Be a good example for your children: Just like his father Abraham, Isaac lied about Rebekah (Isaac’s wife) being his sister out of fear that the people might kill him to get her. Children learn a lot from their parents by listening and observing. As a parent, do your best to emulate the best examples for your children to follow. Be careful of what you say and do around them.
- Flourishing in arid lands: Even when there was famine in the land, God blessed Isaac and he was able to reap a hundredfold harvest. As children of God, we have the favour of the Lord which allows us to prosper even when “times are hard”. Don’t be swayed by all the negative reports in the news, trust God that He will bless you and increase you even if everything around you seems to be going downhill.
- Jealousy causes persecution: When the Philistines saw Isaac’s wealth, they became jealous and envious and started clogging his wells and eventually drove him out of the land. Praise God, despite the persecution he faced, Isaac remained prosperous and kept expanding.
When people persecute you, pray for them. Their mistreatment of you could be stemming from jealousy and insecurity about their own situations. Whatever happens, don’t let other people’s words and actions towards you make you stoop down to their level. Keep being you and trusting God, don’t hinder your growth just so that stagnating people will like you.
- Know when to walk away: Isaac moved to the valley of Gerar when Abimelek asked him to. Even after Isaac moved the herders would still start disputes with him over wells his people dug… and he kept moving till finally they dug a well that no one fought them over.
Not every battle in life is worth fighting. There are times you need to stand your ground but there are also times when you just need to walk away.
- Do not forget the promises and prophecies of God: God made it a point to remind Isaac of the promises He had made to Abraham so that Isaac would know and walk accordingly. If you forget God’s promises to you, you may not take hold of them. Promises and prophecies are to be remembered, proclaimed and expected.
- Forgive and live at peace with everyone: See what happened in verse 26 – Abimelek and some of his men came to make an agreement with Isaac even after previously sending him away from their land. Instead of sending them away, Isaac held a feast for them and they made a treaty and later parted ways peacefully.
It’s not always easy to forgive people after they treated you badly but the Bible urges us to live at peace with everyone and to forgive those who hurt us. While you don’t necessarily need to become best friends with your enemies, make sure to live at peace with them, extend love instead of hate and pray for them.
Reflection
- Do you believe God can bless you even when the world’s economy is not booming?
- What promises/prophecies have been given to you by God?
- Do you live at peace with everyone in your life?
- What steps can you take to restore peace with someone you’ve been having problems with?
Further reading
- Romans 12:18 NIV [If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.]
- Ephesians 4:32 NIV [Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.]
- Romans 12:14 NIV [Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.]
- Isaiah 26:3 NIV [You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.]
Prayer
Lord, I am fixing my eyes on you, I will not be moved by the negative reports of the world. Thank you for being unfailing and unchanging. I pray you bring to my mind today all the promises and prophecies you’ve spoken to me over the years so that I will take hold of them and watch them come to pass.
Help me to shine your light everywhere I go and show love to everyone I encounter. Open doors for reconciliation with people I have had quarrels and disagreements with so that we can live in peace with each other. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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